Litigation, Licensing, Transactional and Public Policy Practice Group

Since its inception, Dunlap Codding has maintained expertise in the practice areas of litigation, licensing negotiations and transactional work for its intellectual property clients. With the opening of its Washington, D.C. office, Dunlap Codding now offers public policy and governmental interaction expertise.

Litigation Practice Group
Since its inception, Dunlap Codding has litigated on behalf of clients as well as helped clients avoid litigation.


Philosophy and Approach
We believe that litigation should serve the business interests of the client.  Our focus is on solving the business problem.  We strive never to waste a client’s time, energy or money.  We know “when to say when,” and when to go to the ends of the earth.  We don’t back down from a trial—and we never want a client to be perceived as “buying off” infringers.  We balance our courtroom fierceness with a pragmatic analysis of the likely outcome.
As a business tool, we believe that litigation should support the strategic management of a client’s portfolio and should be used only when goals are discernible, articulated and achievable. Where litigation is the prudent course, we are skilled advocates for our clients.
Our litigators are often involved in the drafting of patent claims and early development of a client’s portfolio—a forward-thinking approach aimed at ensuring the defensibility of claim terminology.  Our success in the courtroom is quite clearly tied to our litigation team’s early analysis of the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities in an invention disclosure, patent application and/or intellectual property portfolio.
Budgets and Early Case Assessment:  Patent Prosecution and Litigation
We are adept at setting realistic case budgets and skilled in early case assessment.  In intellectual property arenas, early case assess is often called strategic portfolio management or patent mapping and calibration with market forces.  The key is the education and collaboration among all third parties and third-party information sources.
Our early case assessment practices are modeled after the DuPont Legal Model for litigation.  We conduct case assessments early and often.  Our case assessment model uses standardized processes and procedures leveraged against factual and legal input.  Early case assessment can create wealth by avoiding pointless adverse entanglements.
Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property Litigation and Business Torts
Dunlap Codding litigators are seasoned and successful and have tried cases for Fortune 1000 clients as well as budding entrepreneurs.  We have litigated cases throughout the United States involving diverse areas of the law including patent infringement, trademark infringement, copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, oil and gas, antitrust and construction.
We regularly counsel clients in various aspects of intellectual property including the acquisition and development of intellectual property, licensing, joint ventures, manufacturing and import/export issues.
Our litigation matters have involved diverse areas of the law, including:
•    Patent infringement
•    Trademark infringement
•    Copyright infringement
•    Trade secret misappropriation
•    Commercial litigation covering a variety of industries, such as oil and gas and construction
Recent Cases:

  • We enforced the patents of Pictometry International Corporation, the developer of the modern aerial imagery used by Microsoft and governmental entities, against U.S. and foreign-based infringers.  Pictometry’s technology encompasses both software and electrical-mechanical equipment for capturing imagery from an aircraft and instantly calculating and assigning accurate geographic coordinates of the points on the ground to each and every pixel within the image.  The patent was determined to be valid and enforceable and one of the alleged infringers exited the U.S. market, while the other infringer took a license of our client’s patent. We have also worked with Pictometry to develop a world-wide portfolio of patents that have, to date, been used to keep all significant competitors out of the marketplace.
  • Dunlap Codding prosecuted and obtained the infamous “Freeny Patent,” U.S. Patent No. 4,528,643 , broadly covering the transmission of music, software, and digital images over the Internet. The breadth of the Freeny Patent’s claims was upheld by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and is now the basis for worldwide licensing agreements—agreements with companies including Apple, IBM, and Microsoft.  The entirety of the portfolio we obtained for the client has generated revenues, through licensing and damages, in excess of eight figures.

Mediation and Arbitration
Dunlap Coding has developed Oklahoma’s only Alternative Dispute Resolution practice section staffed exclusively by patent lawyers. These professionals bring sophisticated analytical abilities, and more than 75 years of experience, to the tasks of analyzing and mediating the complex issues inherent in intellectual property cases. Our mediation experience also affords the firm special practical insights into the real world problems confronted by clients, and allows Dunlap Codding to incorporate those insights into the firm’s regular client representation. By offering pragmatic counsel, we strive to optimize clients’ opportunities and, wherever possible, avoid costly litigation.
These assets allow Dunlap Codding to offer many value added services to our clients, identify the hidden costs associated with the exploitation of an intellectual property portfolio, and to bring a new, modern and pragmatic dimension to the time honored methods of providing traditional professional legal services.

Licensing

Dunlap Codding has negotiated numerous contracts for “licensing in” and “licensing out” all kinds of technologies for its clients. These negotiations run the gamut from licenses with the government of the former communist East Germany to joint development agreements among international mega-corporations. To maintain its expertise in this field, members of the firm have been members of the prestigious Licensing Executive Society International (LESI) from its inception. Presently, Douglas J. Sorocco, a Dunlap Codding shareholder is the Oklahoma Chairman for the LESI, and Dunlap Codding is Oklahoma’s most significant participant in the organization. The unique association with LESI allows Dunlap Codding to offer its clients direct access to other licensing professionals from around the world, in both the public and private sectors.

Mediation and Arbitration

Dunlap Coding has developed Oklahoma’s only Alternative Dispute Resolution practice section manned exclusively by patent lawyers. These professionals bring sophisticated analytical abilities, and more than 75 years of experience, to the tasks of analyzing and mediating the complex issues inherent in intellectual property cases. Their mediation experience also affords the firm special practical insights into the real world problems confronted by clients, and allows Dunlap Codding to incorporate those insights into the firm’s regular client representation.

These assets allow Dunlap Codding to offer many value added services to our clients, identify the hidden costs associated with the exploitation of an intellectual property portfolio, and to bring a new, modern and pragmatic dimension to the time honored methods of providing traditional professional legal services.

Licensing
Dunlap Codding has negotiated numerous contracts for “licensing in” and “licensing out” all kinds of technologies for its clients. These negotiations run the gamut from licenses with the government of the former communist East Germany to joint development agreements among international mega-corporations. To maintain its expertise in this field, members of the firm have been members of the prestigious Licensing Executive Society International (LESI) from its inception. Presently, Douglas J. Sorocco, a Dunlap Codding shareholder is the Oklahoma Chairman for the LESI, and Dunlap Codding is Oklahoma’s most significant participant in the organization. The unique association with LESI allows Dunlap Codding to offer its clients direct access to other licensing professionals from around the world, in both the public and private sectors.
Mediation and Arbitration
Dunlap Coding has developed Oklahoma’s only Alternative Dispute Resolution practice section manned exclusively by patent lawyers. These professionals bring sophisticated analytical abilities, and more than 75 years of experience, to the tasks of analyzing and mediating the complex issues inherent in intellectual property cases. Their mediation experience also affords the firm special practical insights into the real world problems confronted by clients, and allows Dunlap Codding to incorporate those insights into the firm’s regular client representation.
These assets allow Dunlap Codding to offer many value added services to our clients, identify the hidden costs associated with the exploitation of an intellectual property portfolio, and to bring a new, modern and pragmatic dimension to the time honored methods of providing traditional professional legal services.